Insulin-based or non-insulin-based insulin resistance indicators and risk of long-term cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the general population: A 25-year cohort study

Objective

Although insulin resistance (IR) has been recognized to be a causal component in various diseases, current information on the relationship between IR and long-term mortality in the general population is limited and conclusions varied among different IR indicators and different populations. We aimed to assess associations between different measurements of IR with long-term all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality risk for the general population.

Research design and methods

We included 13,909 individuals from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mortality was identified via National Death Index information until December 31, 2019. IR was measured using fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR), homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function, quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), insulin-to-glucose ratio (IGR), triglyceride glucose (TyG) index, TyG-body mass index (TyG-BMI), and hypertriglyceridemic-waist phenotype.

Results

During median 25-year follow-up, 5,306 all-cause mortality events occurred. After multivariate adjustment, variables significantly associated with elevated all-cause mortality risk were (hazard ratio [95 % confidence interval]): higher insulin (1.07 [1.02;1.13]); HOMA-IR (1.08 [1.03;1.13]); IGR (1.05 [1.00;1.11]); TyG (1.07 [1.00;1.14]); TyG-BMI (1.24 [1.02;1.51]); lower QUICKI (0.91 [0.86–0.96]). After stratification by diabetes status, higher insulin, HOMA-IR, TyG-BMI and lower QUICKI were significantly associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality in both diabetes and non-diabetes populations (all P for interaction > 0.05). Higher TyG (adjusted HR 1.17 [1.09;1.26], P for interaction = 0.018) and hypertriglyceridemic-waist phenotype (adjusted HR 1.26 [1.08;1.46], P for interaction = 0.047) were significantly associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality in patients with diabetes, however, these associations could not be seen in people without diabetes. Similar results were observed between the above-mentioned IR indicators and cardiovascular death.

Conclusions

Fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, TyG-BMI, and QUICKI may indicate mortality risk in diabetes and non-diabetes populations, with TyG and the hypertriglyceridemic-waist phenotype showing particular relevance for individuals with diabetes. Further studies are needed to validate these findings and determine their broader applicability.